A day after Israeli forces freed four hostages held by Hamas militants in Nuserat, Gazans described heavy bombardment during the attack, followed by chaos in the streets that left dozens of Palestinians dead and injured.
Bayan Abu Amr, 32, held his 18-month-old son Mohammad on the edge of Nuseirat’s main market on Saturday amid heavy bombardment from aircraft. , the Israeli military said the aircraft were targeting militants to ensure Israel’s security.
“People came like it was the Day of Judgment; I didn’t know where to run,” Ms. Abu Amr said. She was on her way to pay her respects to her uncle’s family after the death of his two sons. “Children were screaming and women were falling while running.”
She recalled that, along with other Gazans, she managed to climb aboard a passing pickup truck that was trying to transport people safely out during the strike. She said a girl was separated from her mother in the chaos and an elderly man lost control and fell from the truck to the ground.
Hours later, Ms. Abu Amr finally returned home with her son, shocked that she was still alive. “I will never take my son out of the house again,” she said.
Israeli military spokesman Major General Daniel Hagari said that in order to rescue the hostages, Israeli troops entered two residential buildings where the hostages were held. General Hagari said that there were families living in the apartment and Hamas militants guarding the hostages, so it was “impossible to approach them without harming civilians in Gaza.”
The exact death toll remains unclear as health officials try to gather statistics amid chaos at hospitals. Health officials in Gaza reported that the attack killed more than 200 people; the Israeli military said it knew of fewer than 100 casualties, but did not specify whether they were killed, wounded or both. Neither side provided details on combatants and civilians.
Halls and corridors of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, the last major medical center in central Gaza, remained “overcrowded” with new patients on Sunday, where more than 100 bodies were brought on Saturday. official Khalil Daklan said. Most of the bodies had been buried or claimed by relatives, he added.
Abdelkarim al-Harazin, a 28-year-old doctor, said the medical facility was already packed even before the Israeli rescue mission near Nuserat.
“The violence of the explosion was unimaginable,” Dr. Harazin said. “The whole hospital turned into one giant emergency room, even though people came looking for their dead relatives.”
Aid group official Javed Ali said that when the Al-Aqsa mosque was overwhelmed, many of the injured were taken to a nearby field hospital run by the International Medical Corps.
Diana Abu Shaban, 28, was drying laundry near the tent where she had taken refuge in Nuseirat when she first heard the gunshots. As the attack escalated, she told her daughters to hide, before realizing the flimsy tent couldn’t protect them. She gathered her children and rushed to the nearby Al Oda Medical Center in a desperate search for safety.
She said her husband, Said, had set out earlier that morning for the market, where Palestinian residents said the strike was particularly intense.
“I heard lots and lots of missiles,” Ms. Abu Shaban said. “I thought my husband was going to be killed or injured.”
Two hours later, she said, she and her children left the hospital as the explosions subsided. Later, they discovered that her husband had survived by hiding in a nearby store.
Abd Al-Rahman Basem al-Masri, 25, who lives on the northern edge of Deir al-Balah, said Saturday The worst day he had seen since the war began.
Mr. Masri said he, his mother and brother were driving back from their uncle’s house and were approaching their home when an airstrike hit the ground next to their home.
In video taken by a friend in the car, an expanding plume of smoke can be seen rising from behind the building. “At that moment, I lost hope that we could continue to live here,” Mr Masri said.
Another Gazan living in Nuserat, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said he and more than a dozen family members hid in their home for several hours as heavy airstrikes hit the community. . He said he was unaware of any hostages being held in the area.
After the explosion subsided, he headed to the destroyed market area and said he saw the streets covered in blood and bodies. He said Gazans there not only cursed Israel, but also cursed Hamas, blaming them for bringing this disaster on themselves.
Neither Israel nor Hamas care about destruction, he said, because they both try to attack each other. Ordinary people are victims, he added.
